Leaving after first baby born?

My wife and I are expecting our first child in September and are getting ready to book our 4th trip back to CN in May/June of 2013. This will be 8 months after the baby is born. Being our first, we are not sure how we will feel about this. We are using the Love Away option and getting insurance for our flight as precautions, but we are hoping that some people on the MB have had experience leaving a child behind to go on vacation within the first year. If anyone has experience with this, your comments are welcome. The main questions we keep asking ourselves are:

Will we even want to go?
Will we want to go, but then have a miserable time?
Is 7 nights too long? Would 5 be easier for this trip?

We already know how we feel about CN, so that's not a concern. If it wasn't for our son, we would already be booked for 9-10 nights in November. We just have no experience with the kid stuff yet, so that is where we are a little unclear about how we might feel. Any input is appreciated!

yes, I have left children behind (by the time the second comes around, your pretty much ready for a vacation the next week!!!LOL)and honestly, five nights was more than i needed. I couldnt wait to get home. Now they have skype so you can video with the baby and as long as you are happy with where he is staying, you should be good.
BUT, that all depends on how you two feel about parenting. Since this is your first, you might want to wait a year or (I cant believe i am saying this) take him with you to a family oriented resort. I saw babies as young as three months on vacation to jamaica!
Congrats on your new arrival!

You wont know how you feel until you leave. I am sure there are parents who don't think twice about going on a kids free vacation, other who wont even leave a child at home to go to dinner, and parents that fall some where inbetween. Parents need time to themselves, other wise you forget why you feel in love and who that person is sitting across from you at breakfast. one day your son will be 18ish off to start his life and you two parents wont know how to talk to each other anymore. If your child care provider is up for a week take a week and enjoy each other!!!!!

Go, but leave him with grandparents or aunts and uncles. They'll be happy to get to spend the time with the baby, and you can relax knowing the baby's being lavished with attention and in good hands. You need to go on a vacation alone. You'll miss the baby, but will be back sooner than you can imagine. Babies will have no recollection that you've left at any point in their lives. The guilt you're feeling about it all comes from within you - give yourself permission to do something great for your relationship. You'll be better parents for it.

We have gone to Couples within a year after each of our children were born. With the first, it was almost 12 months, with the 2nd it was 9 months, and with #3 it will be 11 months. It was a little difficult leaving after our first baby was born, but that sadness quickly went away when we were on vacation (of course, everyone is different). We were gone 8 nights for each of the trips, and I certainly missed my babies but it never dampened my enjoyment of Couples and I was never miserable (neither was my husband)! That being said, there are some factors to consider that you may not have thought about. If your wife is going to be breastfeeding, that may be too soon to go. It will depend on how long she wants to breastfeed. Also, after having a baby there is some adjustment time where your body will go through some changes. For everyone this is different. For me, I did not want to buy a whole new wardrobe, so I spent many months getting back into pre-baby shape. This works differently for everyone. I know after my first, I did not realize how much it would take and how different my body would be. Some people snap right back into shape, some people do not, and some people don't care if they do or not. It really doesn't matter either way, especially at Couples, it is just something to be aware of and whatever makes her feel the most comfortable. I think taking these trips as a couple are VERY important, so if you are comfortable with the above mentioned factors, I say book and don't look back. If not, then maybe wait until the little one is a year old. It may be a little easier then. But, do NOT put it off much longer than that Congratulations on the upcoming addition to your family. We just added baby boy #3 to ours in January!